both hitting the swing states with new polls out, show ing its a close call. it's thursday, november 1st, and "starting point" begins right now. morning. welcome, everybody. our "starting point" this morning, the aftermath of the superstorm. new york city slowly getting back to normal this morning, but no heat, no power, gas running low. bumper to bumper traffic. patience is being tested. some subways are running again this morning, so many are buses. fares, free, today, as workers are trying to keep the financial heart of the country beating. rob marciano this morning at the brooklyn bridge for us. hey, rob, good morning! >> reporter: good morning, soledad. there'll be a lot of foot traffic once again over this bridge. and if you are in a car, you'll need at least three people in that vehicle. carpooling is going to be the call today, because yesterday, there was absolute gridlock across the city. we didn't have much in the way of bus lines running. these subways were still shut

down. all the people that would typically travel underground were trying to get to work aboveground. and boy, some places, there was chaos. i mean, people pushing and shoving, just to try to get on a bus. many buses that were traveling past 10th and 14th street weren't even stopping, because they were already full. so hopefully they get more buses up and rung today. cabs will have to double up. the tunnels into the city are still shut down, except for one. they've got to pump the water out. subways north of 34th street will be up and running today. hopefully that will alleviate some of the problems. of course, the power downtown, where we are for the most part is still out. we're day three. coned says it will probably be day four before we start to get power up and running here, outside the cities, the outer boroughs, could be ten plus days. but in the inner city, when you're talking about people that live in mid- to high-rise buildings, in some cases are not healthy or are mobile, there are issues when we get into this. i caught up with one gentleman who was having his own health

problems, just trying to get down some stairs yesterday. >> maybe even more sicker than i am, i'm trying to make it to the first floor, with all the stuff that i've, thanks to my fiancee. i'm out of breath. >> reporter: in many of these buildings, the water is pumped by electricity. so there's no water. they're getting water, yesterday, at some of the fire hydrants locally and lugging them up in five-gallon tanks. it's going to be a matter of survival the next several days as some of those elderly people web especially, need to get down to some of those supplies. and on top of that, with the power out, obviously not much in the way of heat. and temperatures will drop over the weekend into the 30s in the city and near freezing outside of the city, where there's still, what, over 4 million people without power. so, surviving the cold during overnight hours the next several days will be a matter at hand as well. >> oh, that's such brutal news. and it's so creepy, if you go up

in the top of these apartment buildings, it's dark and cold and creepy and scary for people who are up there. i'll tell everybody, follow rob marciano on twitter. he's got one of the best twitter accounts @robmarcianocnn. he's awesome. governor christie says no washing cars, no watering lawns. in hoboken, right across the river from new york city, the lower part of the city, workers have managed to drain those filthy floodwaters. they thought maybe they were filled with sewage and bacteria and gasoline. this had been keeping almost half of the city's residents trapped inside their homes. let's get right to bob van dillen. the national guard is there, right, bob? they're helping with rescues and helping with supplies too. >> reporter: indeed, soledad. good morning to you. a different story flrthis morni

from yesterday. the national guard is still here, but yesterday morning, everybody were in their trucks. the trucks are still here, but they're not idling and i haven't seen a single national guard troop and all the roads dry. the evacuations, they have essentially ceased. that's the good news. but the bad news is the power is still out and people obviously are getting a little bit cold. temperatures right now down into the 40s. yesterday morning, this was also a staging area where i was standing. got some people get loaded out, saw some families. i talked to one particular guy, here's what he had to say. >> one night without food, water, without electricity. so we had to leave, no matter what. so we had no milk, so we just have to leave. >> reporter: a cute little guy too. that was really the story for about everybody. they were running out of supplies, essentially, and didn't want to wade into chest-deep to waist-deep water, because it's filled with sewage, even petroleum floating around there, even debris, it was plain old dangerous. everybody's safe at this point,

but the power's still out, that's the worst part, and obviously, gas lines are huge in jersey. that's the next concern. >> a big, big problem. bob van dillen is a meteorologist with headline news, helping us out this morning. we appreciate it. and the national guard troops working tirelessly, not only carrying oil for generators up 13 flights of stairs in one example, but also carrying patients out of new york city's flagship public hospital, bellevue hospital center, to transfer about 725 patients began yesterday. 260 who remain, and they should be moved by noon today, we're told. sandy knocked out the hospital's power, flooding then wiped out the fuel pumps in the basement, which were supposed be fueling the generators. bottom of the hour, we'll talk to dr. sanjay gupta. he's got a live report for us from bellevue. john's got a lack at some of the other stories making news this morning. good morning. >> this morning, people in breezy point in queens are literally picking up the pieces of their lives. at least 110 neighborhood homes the burned in that massive fire during sandy. new york governor andrew cuomo

toured the devastation yesterday. he spoke to victims and promised them the tight-knit community will rebuild. we have some new developments is on stories we've been following this morning. the university of southern california has lifted a lockdown it put in place following a late-night shooting at a campus halloween party. the school department of public safety says shots were fired. following an argument between two men last night at usc's main campus in los angeles. one of the men was critically wounded. another three people were also shot. their injuries, not life threatening. two suspects are now in custody. on the road again, president obama and mitt romney return to the campaign trail today with just five days left until election day. the president hits three battleground states, wisconsin, colorado, nevada. the white house says the president will be briefed on details of the federal response to sandy, a day after he witnessed the devastation and promised to cut through all the red tape. mitt romney makes several campaign stops today in the swing state of virginia. and there is more evidence at just how close this presidential race really is.

a "wall street journal"/nbc news/marist poll of three bat e battleground state shows president obama with a six-point lead over mitt romney in iowa, a three-point lead in wisconsin, and a two-point lead in new hampshire. just five days left. >> it is so interesting to watch this as we get to that deadline. it's so fascinating. john, thank you very much. back to our "starting point" this morning, it's day three of that fallout from superstorm sandy. millions of people without power in their homes. and as john mentioned, they're literally trying to pick up the pieces that remain from their homes, the pieces of their lives. yesterday the president and governor chris christie of new jersey toured the destruction on the jersey shore right near atlantic city. the mayor of atlantic city joins us this morning. let's talk specifically, sir, and thanks for joining us this morning, about the damage that's happened to atlantic city. you have the iconic boardwalk, you have the casinos, you have lots of hotels. fill me in on how atlantic city is faring.

>> well, let me tell you that the boardwalk did suffer some major damage, but property can be replaced. the good news is in atlantic city and in atlantic county, that there was only one fatality. and when i say "only," i don't mean to minimize that fatality, one is too many, but given the catastrophic nature of this storm, i think we were blessed and spared that on the human side in terms of loss, there was one fatality and no real serious bodily injury to report. on the property side, a much different story. there is catastrophic damage all through the atlantic city, particularly on the boardwalk. >> as often is the case, i think some of the poorest neighborhoods got the worst damage spop where do those folks go? when you see those pictures, people can't inhabit those homes and probably can't for a long time. what's happening to those people? >> well, we did have 30,000 of our residents heed the warning to evacuate the island voluntarily. another 2,600 had to be relocated and evacuated through

city services. our priority right now is trying to relocate those 2,600 people back into their humble abodes. but most of those people were housed in shelters off the island. >> let's talk about the financial impact. you know, casinos bring in a lot of money. the fact that they're not up and running, not even to mention the damage to repair them, but not up and running, at last got to cost you, must be losing a lot of money for your city. >> yeah, i'm sure. and obviously it's too premature to determine what the financial impact of all of this will be, both with respect to commerce and to the damage that's been sustained. >> governor chris christie, i know you guys had a back and forth, a little bit of fighting while this storm was unfolding, but here's what he said when he was doing the tour yesterday with president obama. >> for all of you that are here, i met a bunch of you today at brigantine, who disregarded my admonition, to get the hell out of here, you know?

you are forgiven this time, but not for much longer. we've got to make sure. when you all laook around and se all this destruction, that's fine, all of that stuff can be replaced. when you look to your right or your left, your husband or wife, your son or your daughter, those are the things that can't be replaced. >> i know there's been a rift between the two of you, you and the governor. you've got a lot of work to do in your state, massive damage there. are you moving past this or are you still fighting? >> first of all, i think it's reprehensible for the governor to spew the rhetoric that he did based on falsehoods. the governor made a statement that just simply was not true when he said that i countermanded his order. but an interesting thing developed yesterday when they toured brigantine. brigantine is a community north of us that's part of the same island that atlantic city sits on. and he said, the governor said that they had just left a shelter, so the city of bigg brigantine had a shelter on the

island. so not only did some of the residents not decide to heed the warning, but more importantly, the officials in brigantine set up a shelter. so what the governor falsely accused me of doing actually happened in brigantine, and yet they're being jovial about it. that's a double standard and i think the people can see for themselves what's really going on here. >> so spell that out for me. what's really going on here, then? >> as i said, you've got one community that's rather fluent, and who the officials denied the governor's order and set up their own shelter. you have another city that's an urban area, where we heeded the call, parodied the message that the governor sent, which was for everybody to evacuate, and then the governor falsely accused us of not heeding his warning, yet everything in brigantine is hunky-dory. >> so double standard between affluent and not particularly affluent, is that what you're saying? >> you be the judge. >> lorenzo langford joining us

this morning, we appreciate it. still ahead on "starting point," john was just talking about those poll numbers. it's anybody's game about what's going to happen come tuesday. we'll take a closer look at the crucial battleground state, just five days until the election. we'll also talk about what the numbers mean for president obama, with maryland congressman elijah cummings. he's our guest, up next. plus, images of sandy's wrath continue to pour in. these boats wound up far where they're supposed to be, in someone's front yard. details on that. sandy will cost billions to clean up across a number of states, but new york city alone has an astronomical bill. we'll break down the numbers and what you can expect to pay and be reimbursed from insurance. "starting point" back after this. [ male announcer ] the 2013 smart comes with 8 airbags, a crash management system and the world's only tridion safety cell which can withstand over three and a half tons. small in size. big on safety.

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to events that engage and create buzz... to e-mails that keep loyal customers coming back, our easy-to-use tools will keep you in front of your customers. see what's right for you at constantcontact.com/try. with the blackish-blue frame and the white dots and the splattered paint pattern, your lights are on. what? [ male announcer ] the endlessly customizable 2013 smart. welcome back to "starting point." i'm christine romans. minding your business. the jobs report for october will not be delayed because of sandy. it will be released at 8:30 a.m.

eastern time tomorrow. that jobless rate is forecast to rise slightly to 7.9%. u.s. stock markets reopened yesterday after being closed two days. and they closed mixed on the day. home depot and lowe's both rose, no surprise there. this morning, u.s. stock futures are trading mixed. there are several key economic reports today. jobless claims, construction spending, auto sales, and we're getting a lot of earnings. a lot going on in markets, even as investors in people's 401(k)s are trying to dig out. and it's costing new york city $200 million a day in permanently lost economic activity. >> what are you adding up there? >> that's all the lost business, and that's not even counting, i think, the damage that's going to have to be fixed. this is lost economic activity. this is according to the new york city comptroller's office. businesses, of course, scrambling for fuels, for cars, for generators. logistics are a mess, employees are displaced, customers are

displaced, lost productivity, business not getting done, contracts being lost. you get it. >> not even cleanup numbers yet. >> not even cleanup yet. >> all right. well, thanks for that update. politics, in some ways, have taken a backseat to the disaster over the last few days, but there are only five days to go until the election, and the campaign trail is heating up once again. the president hasn't campaigned since saturday, but today he's got three stops planned in wisconsin, in colorado, and in nevada. governor romney has events that are planned today in virginia. i want to get right to maryland democratic congressman, elijah cummings. good to see you, sir. >> good to be with you. >> talk to me about maryland. how are you faring and how is your district faring in baltimore and outside of baltimore, post-sandy. >> we're doing pretty good. we were not hit as hard as a lot of other areas. and certainly our prayers go out to those residents in those states. and you know, we're doing everything in our power to help our residents. but things are going fairly well in baltimore and the surrounding area. >> so we just talked about the campaign heating up again. and if you look at a poll from

abc news,/"washington post," the question was, likely voters' views to the response to hurricane sandy, president obama was excellent or good, 78%, not so good or poor, 8%. no opinion was relatively high for governor romney. mark preston thinks that the president's handling of this disaster will lead directly to more votes for him. do you agree? >> i think it's quite possible. the president is doing what the president does best. i mean, you've heard governor christie say that he had talked to the president six times, and when he got together with him, he could feel the compassion that he felt over the phone. and that says a lot. here we have two men, who truly care about their country, coming together. and i think that's basically what america wants. they're tired, soledad, of all the bickering and nothing

getting done. and the fact is that they came together, and i think that the president has taken the appropriate action. i'm very impressed. >> let's take a look at the battleground states and the polls that comes from "the wall street journal"/nbc/marist. governor romney, 44%. in wisconsin, president obama at 49%. in new hampshire, president obama at 49%, governor romney at 47%. so the good news is that's a lead for president obama, from the democratic are perspective. the bad news is he's been dropping. in iowa, that lead was eight points, now it's six. in wisconsin, that lead is now three points, it was six. new hampshire, it was a seven-point lead, it's now two. so if you actually map it, it's shrinking very dramatically five days left until the election. are you worried about that trend? you must be. >> not at all. not at all. we had always anticipated that there would be a very, very close race. but i think, basically, what it's going to boil down to is who do we trust. and i think the polling will

show that the american people trust this president. i think when you've got a situation where the president is either basically tired or leading in all of these battleground states, you've got, just the eyes will tell you that some of them are going to come out in his favor, if not all. but i think the president clearly, you've got to keep in mind, one of the things that governor romney has done is basically, he's decided to stop answering questions two to three weeks outside of the election. i mean, i've never heard of anything like that. while the president has made himself available to answer questions, to address any kind of issues that the public might be interested in, so, basically, i see romney basically rope-a-doping while the president is out there leading and facing issues head-on. >> i'm not sure that's true. i think that both got a lot of criticism, and president obama, certainly, for doing certain kinds of shows and not necessarily taking a lot of questions from reporters. there was a time when reporters here were frustrated that he would go on "the view" and not do interviews with reporters. so i'm going to disagree with

you on that. i want to ask you a question before we go, though. that campaigning, is it too soon for that? i know we're getting notes that the fema administrator, craig fugate, will be updating the president throughout the day. but the visuals, you've seen, are devastating. every day, we learn more information about a new area, especially new jersey, that's been absolutely devastated. is it just too soon to be out there campaigning, for both men? >> i think it all depends on how they do it. the president said yesterday that he is addressing this minute by minute, and i like the fact that he said that his folk had to get back to the mayors and the governors within 15 minutes. clearly, i think he can do more than one thing at a time. again, we're coming down toward the end of the election. i think they both have to make their cases and i don't see anything wrong with that. >> elijah cummings, nice to see you. appreciate your time this morning. want to tune in tuesday night for cnn's live coverage of election night in america.

our coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern. ahead on "starting point," look at this, a little girl, very upset. >> obama and mitt romney. >> honey, us too, we really are tired of covering this story. we'll tell you about that really adorable video of that sad little girl, that's straight ahead. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi® card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts. more events. more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with a citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ]

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welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting point." our team this morning, margaret hoover, a former white house appointee in the bush administration. good to have you with us. richard socarides is former senior adviser to president clinton. ben smith we're going to go ahead and introduce. he is stuck in traffic, as you

know, the traffic is so awful in new york city. i mean, it takes such a long time to even get across town or downtown, because, of course, with the subways only now getting back into service in a limited way, a huge problem. ben, normally i would mock you for not getting to my show, but today i will not. we'll start with john berman. he has a look at some of the stories making news. >> meanwhile, flights have resumed at laguardia after a lot of disruption from sandy. look at these pictures. it's impressive they got it open today. new york city's other two major airports reopened yesterday morning. this doesn't mean everything is back to normal. all three airports are running at reduced schedules. cnn ireporter george dupont shot these stunning images in connecticut. both were just piled on top of each other at a boatyard on bluff avenue, and right near homes, practically on top of homes nearby. he's lived in the area for 30

years and says he's never seen anything like this. george actually traveled a couple towns over to send these pictures to us because he has no power. the presidential election in the battle for the 4-year-old vote. both candidates are actually losing right now. this little girl just can't wait for the election to be over. >> just because i'm tired -- i'm tired of barack obama and mitt romney. >> that's why you're crying? ohh. it will be over soon, abby. okay? the election will be over soon, okay? >> okay. >> ohh. >> it will be over soon, abby. just five day. you don't have to listen to barack obama and mitt romney anymore. >> i'm so feeling her pain, aren't you? >> like, let it end. >> a child with no filter captures the sentiment of the american people. >> that's all soft america today. >> i wonder if she's been watching "starting point". >> clearly not! she would want it to keep going.

on and on and on. still ahead this morning on "starting point," another new york city hospital has been forced to evacuate after losing power. new developments this morning. got a live report with dr. sanjay gupta. that's coming up next. stay with us. i gave birth to my daughter on may 18th,

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welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting poi " point," in the city that never sleeps, trying to get moving again after the aftermath of sandy. some new york subways, most

buses are up and running again this morning. they're free. that's good news. the bad news is, it's limited service. there's a carpool requirement, three people per car, if you want to come into manhattan. the "jersey shore," which has been battered beyond recognition, new heartbreaking pictures of the damage there this morning. governor chris christie says the jersey shore of my youth is gone. and the storm's death toll now reaching 124 people, 56 in the united states, at least 28 in new york. nearly 5 million customers are still waiting for power to come back on. national guard troops have been transferring more than 700 patients out of new york city's flagship public hospital, bellevue hospital center. they're dealing with power outages after flooding wiped out the basement fuel pumps, which of course power the generators. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta has been following the transfer since it began. he's at bellevue this morning. sanjay, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. good morning, soledad. let me just give you a little bit of background here. i think that the evacuations over here are complete, if not

nearly complete. you see a few ambulances coming in here. just a short time ago, we saw the national guard about 50 troops come out and walk out to talk to them a bit. they said their job inside the hospital was done. so i think the evacuations are probably near complete, ahead of schedule. it's been a very busy couple of days, soledad. we talked a little bit about this yesterday. but simply trying to keep those generators running, that required a lot of work. because those fuel pumps were not working, there was essentially these bucket brigades, up 12 flights of stairs. people taking up fuel to these generators, it requires about 40 gallons an hour. that's what was going on, to keep bellevue sort of up and running to the extent that it was. once they realized that these fuel pumps were really beyond repair, that's when they announced, officially, that the evacuation, which as you mentioned, began yesterday. 700 some patients, so all these various hospitals around the city. i should point out one thing, soledad. i was talking to some of these

ambulance drivers here this morning. these ambulances come from all over the country. there's sort of this national resource network that comes together. so from nevada, from california, texas, ohio. they come here to do exactly what they're doing, transport patients in situations like this, soledad. >> i was told by a friend who was in the hospital that the ambulance he was transported out of, she was taken out of nyu langone, she said, from ohio, and they were prepositioned before the storm by fema and felt it went really well. so nyu langone is actually right next to bellevue. they're right, very close to the water, a block from the water. i want to bring in, sanjay, dr. irwin redlener, he's a professor at columbia university, the school of public health there. you and i have talked a lot about hospitals in the wake of katrina. why do people put the power in the basement? it seems to me the first thing that's going to go in a flood or any kind of, not even a major a

storm, but a minor storm, is your basement's going to flood. >> this has been a bit of a technological whack-a-mole here, because we realized after katrina, and even after the blackout of 2003, we had to do something about backup generators in hospital. and so we moved the generators upstairs, but left the fuel pumps down in the basement. so we fixed the initial problem and have a secondary that no one seems to have thought about. >> okay, is that just complete stupidity, or is that, listen, it's financially expensive and people make the gamble, we're not going to invest the money and hope for the best. >> i think in this case, it was not paying attention to all of the details. i think people were well meaning. i don't think there was any sort of gross negligence here, except that somebody forgot an essential detail, in a situation that requires extraordinarily excruciating attention to every detail. it seems to me somebody along the lines should have thought about those fuel pumps, because they have to work also and be

resilient to flooding, those hospitals that are right on the river. >> let me ask sanjay a question, because he's still with us. i'm going to assume that transfer of paestients that wen smoothly. but the risk to patients is huge. the way you bring a patient out of a hospital on a top floor is to kind of slide them down at times. walk us through how that works zbl. >> reporter: yeah, even transfers within a hospital can be challenging at times, and here you have no power and very little light and these stairwells, as well. it's tough, soledad. if you consider a patient who has iv lines, for example, may be on a breathing tube, you usually have people manning those things so they don't get pulled out during a transport. if they require bagging, that needs to be continuously, throughout the entire transfer. and in this case, that transfer could involve carrying a patient down several flights of stairs. so there was a lot that could go

wrong. and in hospitals, a transfer is highly coordinated thing, again, even within the hospital, to go get a cat scan, for example. here you're taking someone out into the elements. one thing i want to add about the generators, i've been asking a lot of people about this, for example, here at bellevue, they do have these large tanks close to the generators, 250-gallon tanks, for example, to try to hold excess fuel close to the generators, up high. but that's about six hours' worth, because they take about 40 gallons an hour to fuel these things. so they had the pumps again downstairs, but some of the tanks upstairs. >> sanjay, appreciate it. dr. redlener, what did we learn from katrina? you and i spent many, many hours talking about the aftermath of katrina. so what's the big takeaway and when do we implement that across the country? >> there's one big takeaway and it has to do with the general condition of infrastructure across the united states, and a small part of that, though a critical part, is the condition of hospitals and vital health care facilities.

have we paid enough attention from the lessons of the past, how to make sure the equipment has enough power, how the generators work, have we tested them properly? in this case, we tested generators, but we didn't test the fuel pumps. we didn't know whether they would function under conditions of flooding and apparently they don't. it's not -- you know, obviously, we're learning these lessons now under extreme duress, as sanjay said. we have to now expose pagss to extraordinary risk, take them out of their relatively safe environments in intensive care units and sliding downstairs in the dark. it's an unfortunate, bad scene, and we should have learned more. a lot of these things are called wake-up calls, but they turn out to be snooze alarms. we get a lot of coverage right now, but what are we beginning to do when the acute storm issues die down? are we going to go back and fix all of the problems we need to fix in order to keep our -- >> i hope so. i had all my kids at nyu medical center. are it's a good place with good

people. >> i would agree with that. thanks for being with us. john's got an update of other news. >> the coast guard says some 300,000 gallons of diesel fuel has spilled at a facility during superstorm sandy. most of the spill has now been contained. it happened after floodwaters are rushed through a facility and damaged two diesel storage tankses. and another recall related to the fungal meningitis outbreak. a sister company to the pharmacy at the center of the outbreak and is now voluntarily recalling all of its products. it says it has not received any reports of negative reactions to its products, but simply recalling with the fda's call to improve its sterility testing procedures. the fungal meningitis outbreak has killed 29 people. new research into autism suggests that beginning specialized therapy as early as possible can significantly improve outcomes. a particular type of therapy called the early start denver

model is credited with improving autism symptoms, normalizing brain activity, and controlling social behavior. 1 in 88 children is currently diagnosed with autism, including 1 in 54 boys. some 1 million people packed the streets of san francisco to celebrate the giants and their world series title. letting it sink in right now. the crowd was some 50 deep in some places along the parade route, which was downtown. san francisco swept the detroit tigers sunday for their second world series title in just three years. >> yay! for them. all right. still ahead this morning on "starting point," the emotional toll of superstorm sandy keeps growing. 56 people were killed as a result of the storm here in the united states. coming up next, we'll take a closer look at some of the victims. back in a moment. questions?

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welcome back. at least 56 people in the united states have died as a result of superstorm sandy. here in the tristate area, 36 of them. anderson cooper has a look at some of the victims' stories. >> reporter: jessie and her close friend, jacob vogelman were out for what her family says was a quick walk monday night. they were walking her dog, max. neighbors say an enormous tree suddenly was uprooted by the force of the storm and pinned them both beneath its weight. jessie was the daughter of john kest, the executive director of a new york city advocacy group, new york communities for change. on its website today, jessie was eulogized as an amazing young

woman. she was just 24 years old. her dog, max, was hurt by survived. lauren abraham was a makeup artist, also 24, in her queens neighborhood of richmond hill, the storm brought down a power line and it began to spark. the streets were drenched with rain and somehow lauren touched the line, according to police. rescuers were unable to reach her for half an hour. on the flood-ravaged streets of staten island, an off duty police officer began taking his family to safety from inside his home. 24-year-old arthur caspershock faced floodwaters racing into his house. according to an official police account, he'd taken seven people, including a 15-month-old from the attic to safety and was going back in to check the basement. he never came out. his body was recovered 12 hours later. and as those same floodwaters surged through the streets, a horrific event unfolded. a mother had managed to unstrap her two children, brandon, age 2, and connor, age 4, from their car seats as the water hit their

suv. police would only confirm to cnn that the two children are missing. the mother's sister told us that the mom knocked on doors for help, but was turned away. but there were hundreds of rescues throughout the storm that led to happier endings. >> ma'am, your feet are going to be right there. go ahead. >> reporter: in northern virginia, this little girl was inside an apartment building when the roof blew off. >> what did it sound like when that roof blew you haoff? >> it sounded like it was cracking. >> wow, very scary. did you have any idea what was happening? >> the fire department came and knocked and told us to evacuate because the roof was going to fall and then i -- then i started getting scared. and i started hurrying up and packing. >> good to see that she doesn't seem like she's traumatized by the storm, but for so many other people, it's been absolutely awful. we've got to take a short break, but still ahead, the national guard is on duty in hoboken, talk about some of the rescues there and some of the supplies they're delivering as

well. we'll talk to a person who was saved from the floods. and hurricane sandy unfolding in just a matter of memts. dramatic time lapsed video shows the impact, next.

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[ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. point." looting is a major concern. people have arrested dozens of people for looting businesses in brooklyn and queens in the aftermath of sandy. charges range from breaking into a bank, to robbing a liquor store. huge new york city tourist attraction. that boom is no longer dangling after crews secured it. luxury high rise building it is attached to. streets surrounding the crane remain closed and will not be reopened until this weekend at the earliest. inkr incredible time lapse video from

across the east river showing hurricane sandy slamming into manhattan. it shows the very second the lights go out in lower manhattan, full video compressing two days into just two minutes. it's very, very cool. >> when it goes black, amazing. that crane -- people standing outside could see that thing -- you can't really see it in the wide shot. i guess near it in person, it was creaking back and forth. >> they say it's secure now. >> i wouldn't go near it. >> exactly. >> not forry million dollars. >> the streets are blocked off for a two-block radius all around it. tried to get there yesterday. couldn't. didn't want to. >> very ease toy get to new york city, hoboken, you can see national guard rescuing people from their apartments. homes entirely under water. one of those folks is jonathan

hikarski. your wife is eight months pregnant. you have a couple of little kids. why did you decide to stay in your apartment rather than go somewhere else out of town? >> well, you know, we were -- we really had heard that across the state that conditions were going to bed about everywhere. so, we have family in south jersey, where we are now. but at the time when we could have gotten out, we felt like we were home and in our own house and that was the best place to be. >> so what floor were you on in your apartment building? >> the third floor. >> okay. and when did you realize that this flooding -- we're showing some pictures of it while i'm talking to you by phone, that this flooding in hoboken was going to be absolutely disastrous? >> well, really, not until monday night after 9:00. whoa were -- we had power up

until then and were watching the news, like everyone else. and you couldn't really hear the storm or feel the storm from our apartment. but then the power went out. and we began to investigate and you looked outside and you saw the water was pouring in all the way from the other side of town. the water had poured into our building and our basement. obviously at that point we knew that the situation was pretty bad. >> oh, my goodness. as i said your wife is eight months pregnant. you've got little kids. what did you do? what was going through your mind? how did you get out? >> well, you know, we kept them busy. the first night was pretty normal. they had already gone to sleep. but when we woke up on tuesday, it was just trying to keep things going as normal and have fun and play games, and keep a watch on what was outside and make sure we had power and communicate with those people

that we could, family members and friends. >> you finally were pulled out of your apartment? >> yeah. so on tuesday, we were in all day. and, you know, you could see like three feet of water or so on the streets, floating debris, garbage and gasoline. and by around 4:00 or 5:00, you sort of saw some movement. it looked like pumps were pushing the water out of the street. but by wednesday morning, we woke up and it stunk of gasoline and you could see the debris. even though the water was leveling out, we kind of knew it was time to get out. and we had heard that there were national guard coming to hoboken. and early in the morning my wife saw a truck. i went downstairs and flagged it. and they had to do a more urgent run, but then they came back and got us. >> you must be feeling very

lucky today. >> oh, of course. >> cherry hill, new jersey, staying with some folks. how bad is hoboken still? i heard something like 25% of the residents had to be rescued out of the city. >> it looked -- it was really bad when we took the truck. you could so how bad areas still were. and, of course, we feel really, really lucky. we know there are still people there in hoboken. and everyone who has lost their homes throughout the state, obviously, we feel really lucky to have been able to get out. we know people are in situations that are a lot worse. >> jonathan pecarsky, you're very lucky this morning. resc rescued by the national guard. >> thank you. >> you bet. good luck to you. still ahead on "starting point" back to work for the candidates. five days to go until election day. new polls show it really is anybody's race especially in the critical swing states that will be deciding this election. we'll take a closer look straight ahead.

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welcome back, everybody. more than 5 million people remain without power and the temperature is dropping. also, gridlock, mayhem as transportation systems remain shut down. who can forget we're just five days away from the presidential election, president obama and governor romney touring swing states that are too close to call. advice vez joe biden, is he looking for a higher office? can we get through this election, really? it's thursday, november 1st and "starting point" begins right now. welcome back, everybody. our team this morning, margaret hoover is with us, former white house appointee in the bush

administrati administration, richard socarides, former adviser to bill clinton. and john berman is joining us. a panelist this morning is stuck in traffic on the brooklyn bridge. traffic is terrible in the city. we'll save a space for him. when he gets here, he will join us. aftermath of the super storm, city getting back to normal very slowly. i guess depends on what your definition of normal is. no heat, no power. gas is running low. bumper to bumper traffic. patience for a lot of people are being tested. buss are running this morning. gridlock is expected. we were really spoernsing it yesterday. rob marciano is at the brooklyn bridge for us. how is it looking? >> traffic is flowing over the bridge. people are definitely not coming out of this subway station, which is closed because of water issues, obviously. as you mentioned the subway lines north of 44th street are open on a limited basis. everything south of there, it's not going to happen.

still without power near city hall, running on generator power. police headquarters, all the court buildings, they're without power. if you're in trouble, have a court date, you're free till monday. that's the municipal building where all the city's operations are run. they're without power as well. of course, to our east as the sun comes up now is the beautiful brooklyn bridge, which we do have cars coming over today. if you're coming over in cars, you need three people in your car. one of the problems yesterday was gridlock across manhattan because people were trying to get around via cars. obviously we've got foot traffic, folks coming over from brooklyn via foot, also a very popular way to go. buses are running on a limited basis. as they go up town, they fill up with people just like that. boy, they're pushing and shoving yesterday, just trying to get on a bus. that's going to be a problem tod today. even though the governor has announced that we're going to alleviate all the fares across mta. so that's one bright spot, i suppose. nothing has changed as far as con ed is concerned and power

restoration. we are on day three now. probably day four before power down here is restored. over a week more across parts of the eastern burroughs. this is an issue. the power, soledad, now that we're on day three, elderly people, people immobile, unhealthy even coming down 1215 flights of stairs is an issue. just to get life survival supplies in that capacity will be a problem and we'll need some extra help from the local authorities. >> it's brutal. i ran into yesterday, rob, at the bank like 25 people in the little atm lobby thing. and i was like, wow, a run on the atm. no, they were using the power supplies, plugged in, had all these cords running. >> there are places where your cell phone works. did you notice there are people like standing by little pockets outside, using their cell phone? >> it will be a little while before that's back to normal. let's talk about politics this morning. final push for president obama, mitt romney with the election

five days away. it's kind of a game of inches, i guess. cnn's latest poll of polls has president obama at 48%, governor romney at 47%. after getting an eyeful from the damage from sandy in new jersey, first stop for the president will be green bay, wisconsin. brianna keilar is there for us this morning. hey, brianna, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, soledad. president obama will be here in a few hours, holding an event here at the airport. this obviously does come on the heels of spending all day yesterday touring the devastation in new jersey and touring the devastation with one of mitt romney's most effective surrogates, chris christie. this was an opportunity, obviously, for president obama to really flex his presidential muscle. i think people can say he did that effectively and also politically, not great for mitt romney as he was trying to surge up politically. some people may wonder if that's reflective in that cnn poll of

polls, the president ahead by one point. that's something we haven't seen recently. also taking a look at "the wall street journal" nbc poll out today showing that president obama has a slim lead in some key battleground states. four points in iowa, three points here in wisconsin, two points in new hampshire. same time, soledad, those are not comfortable leads even though they tend to be consistent ones that we see. so you see both the obama campaign and romney campaign blanketing wisconsin, for instance, with surrogates. we saw vice president biden here last week as well as senator rubio, a key surrogate for mitt romney. last night, bill clinton was here. he is here this morning. yesterday vice presidential candidate paul ryan was here. we'll also be seeing, of course, president obama here today. you know, it's really interesting. something i want to point out, charles woodson of the green bay packers will be here to rally this crowd here at the airport ahead of president obama.

he is the safety for the green bay packers. if you know about football, what does the safety do? they protect against long passes against, that's right, the hail mary, something the obama campaign is trying to do here in wisconsin. >> i like that football metaphor. i don't usually follow them all that closely. but thank you, brianna. appreciate it. little bit of a rough morning. traffic was terrible for you. >> yes. >> plus that three person rule. >> we had to drive around brooklyn, pick up cnn employees to hit the carpool rule. >> what a mess. thank you for being here. >> thanks for tolerating my lateness. >> we had an empty chair in honor of you. >> today is the day. >> let's bring in senator robert m menendez. there was a tour with the president and chris christie, taking a look at some of the really hard-hit areas along the coast. the senator joins us this

morning. thank you for being with us. we appreciate it. one of the spots that you toured along with governor christie, along with president obama. describe for me what you saw. that area really hard hit. >> yeah. it was really hard hit, soledad. it had all of these boats that had been wash add shore into people's homes, sometimes three and four into a person's home. the whole marina, obviously, smashed. aqua farmers who lost everything in that zone there. a lot of damage. and, obviously, people trying to get their lives back together again. >> lock ago the pictures of these homes. you can tell, obviously, the power was enough to shift the homes off their foundations. >> tess richard socarides. i noticed you were with the president and governor christie yesterday. a lot of people would like to know what that interchange and

exchange was like. you were up there with them. >> well, it was incredibly positive. i was talking to the governor before the president arrived at the airport and he -- you know, i said you're doing a great job in this tremendous challenge. and he thanked me. and he said, well, the president is doing a great job. and i've been on the phone with h him. he has been responsive. i got a few requests for him today. and then later on he said to me -- i think he told the whole state on television at that press conference that he had given the president several other requests while they were in the ride from their tour to the place where the press conference was held and that the president got on the phone and started working right away at having those things delivered. so i got a very clear message from the president when i said to him we need the strongest medical response we've ever seen. i've lived here all my life. i've never seen this type of

destruction and the breath and scope of it. and the president said we are here with you and not only in spirit and word, but in action. and the national guard troops that have been here in hoboken is just one example of that. >> senator menendez, hi, it's margaret hoover. you may have noticed that mayor bloomberg actually said that he didn't want president obama to come to new york city quite yet because the effort and the resources it requires to accommodate the president in a national -- in an emergency like this can actually drain resources away from residency could youing people. there are some people that speculate there was a political motivation on behalf of chris christie to -- he has an election coming up in 2013, to appear bipartisan, by appearing with the president. what do you say to that? >> i don't think there's politics here at all. if i was the governor of the state of new jersey, i would want the president of the united states here. i would want to tell him what i need. i would want to ask him what he's going to do for me on

behalf of the nearly 9 million people in the state. that was the right thing to do. i would do it, if i was the governor, i would do the same exact thing. i would want all those federal resources and i would want the man who can make those federal resources happen. as far as i'm concerned, it wasn't about politics. it was about delivery. >> i want to ask that same question of margaret. do you think it's political? i don't think you have to be a raging cynic to think there is something afoot when you have these glowing quotes from governor christie. and back from president obama to governor christie. what's going on, do you think? >> six days away from a national presidential election. >> five today, right? >> delivers the key note address in favor of mitt romney is seen galavanting around his state when generally resources are pulled from rescue efforts to accommodate the president of the united states. something is awry. >> politics here, some great chess of 2013 is ridiculous. christie has maximum leverage to get billions of dollars for new

jersey. this is an opportunity for chris christie to force obama and to do obama a favor that will be paid back immediately. >> i know better to stop you at the beginning. senator bob menendez, thank you, sir, for updating us on what's happening in that state and pictures from that tour as well. thank you for your time. >> thanks, soledad, for your coverage and getting people information. >> you bet. let's get to john berman with a look at other stories making news. national guard is transporting more than 700 patients out of bellevue hospital center say their job is done. sandy wiped out power and fuel pumps that were in the basement. literally carried patients down more thn a dozen flights of stairs to get them out. dr. sanjay gupta will join us live with a report from bellevue in about ten minutes. >> breezy point and queens, people are picking up,

literally, after the storm. he spoke to victims and promised them this tight-knit community will rebuild. >> late-night shooting at the university of california sends four people to the hospital and put the campus on lockdown for several hours. school's department of public safety says shots were fired after two men had an argument at a party at usc's main campus in los angeles. one of the men were critically wounded. and three others were shot. their injuries not life threatening. two men, soledad, in custody. >> interesting. candidates back out on the trail. we'll talk with congressman marcia blackburn and give us the republican take on these poll numbers next. if we want to improve our schools...

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welcome back, everybody. the eyes of the nation have been watching the aftermath of hurricane sandy. president obama hasn't been campaigning since saturday but today he has three stops planned in wisconsin, colorado and nevada. and mitt romney has events planned in virginy today. let's start with polls. i think that's the best place -- actually, let's start with the campaign. do you think it's too soon? we've been showing pictures of destruction, especially in new jersey. is it too soon to start campaigning? >> no. i think that it's appropriate to get back out and campaign. soledad, all of us, our hearts and our thoughts and our prayers are with those that have been devastated and certainly those of us in tennessee have great empathy for what they're going through because of the 2010 sludge that we endured, the

thousand-year flood and billions of dollars in devastation and we already have tennessee volunteers with the american red cross that are in new jersey on the ground, helping and certainly more are en route to help out. >> let's open the panel. i want to go through our battleground states. do the poll of polls even matter now? >> no. it's not scientific. it's taking a random sampling of -- >> let's do battleground states. ohio -- iowa is what i'm trying to say. obama 50%, mitt romney at 44%. wisconsin, obama, 49%, 46% for mitt romney. new hampshire, 49%, 47% for mitt romney. that's a wall street journal nbc ma marist poll i should mention. ohio, 50% obama, 45% rrm. virginia, 49% obama, 47% rrm.

that is from the cbs quinnipiac poll. let's start with you on this, congressman. the good news is that the president's lead is shrinking. we've seen it go down dramatically in those battleground states. the bad news, though, is that he is ahead. even if it's a squeaker. >> i think there are a couple of things to think about on this. number one, volunteers who are knocking on doors of those who have not voted yet come back with a very different message than what you're getting in the polls. for the president, the fact that there are still undecideds and the independents seem to be breaking toward mitt romney, that is not good news for him. it shows the momentum is definitely with mitt romney. people want change. they want action on day one. and they've been presented a very clear choice between the president and mitt romney.

>> do you have any concern that in a state like yours and states further south they'll go for romney by these overwhelming margin margins, are you concerned that obama will win the popular vote, romney will win the electoral college or perhaps the other way around and what the consequences of that will be? >> well, no. i think what you're going to see is a very strong vote coming out for romney in tennessee. we all know that. i think that we have this system that provides us for electoral college. we support that. it's our job to make certain that in these battleground states we get the message out and that we do win those votes, both the popular vote and the electoral college. that's the goal. >> martha, it's richard. how are you? >> hi, richard. >> i've got to tell you -- >> i hope all of you are safe. >> we are all safe. although he is having heat and hot water problems. but in the commercial break he's

like, i lovesha blackburn. i love her. >> what's your number? >> let's not overstate t we do like each other but have a lot of substantive disagreement. i do want to say that governor romney has run and made this a very interesting, close race. but if you lock at all of the -- you look at all the polling up-to-date, the president is either ahead or tied in all the swing states. so i don't see how governor romney is going to pull it out. i will say to you that you -- i wish you the best of luck on election day. and you're my favorite republican of the entire -- >> there's not even a question in that. anything you want to respond back to richard socarides on with that? >> well, i think what you're going to see is a continuing shift in momentum in these states and in this undecided vote. and, richard, women are breaking for mitt romney. the reason is the focus is on

jobs and the economy, dealing with the debt and the deficit. i have talked to so many women who say the number one reason that they're voting for mitt romney is $16 trillion in debt. you know that i felt as if president bush and everyone has spent too much money and that the spending has to be dealt with. mitt romney has said that is a day one order for him, to work on getting that spending under control. and i think that because of that, election day you're going to see a romney win. >> marsha blackburn joining us this morning. thank you for joining us. >> good to see you. thank you. coverage of election night in america we start at 6:00 pm eastern time. how about a question? not even a question. >> wow! >> wow! >> i have no power. >> i don't forgive you. ahead on "starting point" troops carrying patients down the stairs after backup power has

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welcome back to "starting point." i'm christine romans, minding your business. jobs report tomorrow, there were rumors it would be delayed because of the superstorm sandy. we just received a private sector report on payroll that may be a foreshadowing, showing 158,000 jobs created in the private sector. the weekly jobless claims report, last look at the market before the election. big jobs report tomorrow,

jobless rate forecast at 7.9%. home depot and lowe's both grow, watching insurers in particular today. election day is five days away. election spending could top $6 billion, according to the nonpartisan center for responsive politics, including the race for the white house, parties, super pac and convention committee spending. a lot, a lot of money. >> what else could you use that money for? shorten the campaign, right? and then, as you said, the limit is x. we're going to put all that money into the deficit. >> i like the idea. >> bailing out poor people in the country. >> particularly in these swing states, pouring money into ohio. growing the economy. some irony there. >> you're right. national guard troops say they've now completed that painstaking transfer, 700 patients out of bellevue

hospital, dealing with power outages after flooding from sandy wiped out the fuel pumps that powered their generators. chief medical correspondent sanjay gupta has been covering that transfer for us since it began. he is at bellevue this morning with the very latest. good morning, sanjay. >> reporter: good morning, soledad. you can't overestimate how big a process that is, to try and move 700 patients to various hospitals around the city. just transport iing a patient within a hospital from one floor to another can be challenging. breathing tube, iv lines. it can be really challenging. here, you're walking patients, if not carrying them, down several flights of stairs, bagging them if they're on a breathing tube. it's quite extraordinary, really, to think about. they sound like they're in complete if not near complete here, ambulances still lined up. as you mentioned those national guard troops, we talked to them as they walked out a little while ago and sort of gave us the mission accomplished signal

there. these are the guys that, by the way, were not only helping patients down the darkened staircases, but also helping create this bucket brigade to get fuel up to the generators as well. quite extraordinary work they're doing. >> sanjay gupta, monitoring that. thank you for the update. still ahead on "starting point" we're keeping ap eye on the weekly jobless numbers, due out any moment. they are the final numbers before the election. devastation on the jersey shore. we'll take you there live for an update on that situation. [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year. in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move

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at? >> tomorrow is a big number. the jobs report number. we're expecting 7.9% for the unemployment rate. here is what i think. if you get 7.8% or 7.9%, it really means nothing. if you get 8% or higher, that will be bad for the president. if you get anything that's real low, 7.7%, you're going to get some good news for the president but the conspiracy theorists will spend the weekend spinning their conspiracy theories. what is it? down 9,000 from the week before. 363,000. jobless claims have been dropping, dropping, dropping. this is a chart that, you know, the white house would say is good for the president. things have been getting better since that peak that he, quote, unquote, inherited, that recession that he inherited. but, you know, many say it needs to be a lot better. that's why they'll still be talking about that jobs report

tomorrow. >> we'll have sheila baer, erin burnet and candy crowley as well. numbers, numbers, numbers. i think you're right. depending where it comes in, political implications could be big. >> earlier this week, dls was telling us we'll see if we can get this number down for you and the white house is saying they'll get it done. don't worry. i think no one wants this number to have been delayed and have it come out right before the election, whether it was good or bad, no one wanted this right thing before the election. new york city subways are closed. most buses are up. they're limited. three people per car minimum if you want to drive into manhattan. do not even bother to try. jersey shore, which was battered beyond recognition, really sad pictures to share with you this morning. governor chris christie said the jersey shore of my youth is gone. storm's death toll has now

reached 124 people, 68 in the u.s. 24 in new york. many people are waiting for the power to come on. massive, massive sink holes, homes were picked up and moved off their foundations. and the roller coaster. look at that. it's in the ocean now. the roof from one house torn off. that's kind of typical, actually. the bigger problem is the broken gas lines that have kept the firefighters busy. this is a picture from queens the other day when that massive fire was breaking out. jim clancy has an update for us in belmar, new jersey this morni morning. i've run through a lot of the damage. tell me a little bit about belmar. >> reporter: well, you know, belmar, like so many other places, hard hit. the local newspapers, you know, put it into perspective. this was the headline in this morning's edition. swept away. little bit of a note, though, on the political side. it says a national commitment to

rebuild, referencing the visit of president barack obama and the governor, of course, chris christie. some people taking some hope from all of that. today, people have seen what the devastation is. they recognize for many, many people, their homes are gone forever. they were literally swept away. but for others, there's damage to be repaired. there are cities here to be rebuilt. these are the barrier islands. and the people who live here know the risk that they face. right here at the end of this street that is under about five feet of water right now, front end loaders trying to push debris out of the storm drains. they're going to bring in some pumps, getting this water out. 1.75 million people in new jersey right now without power. there are thousands of crews, not only from here but from around the south and around the entire region working to restore their power. there's a lot of work to be done. the weather is in their favor. it will take a lot more than just one day. and we all know it.

>> i wish it would just be one day. you're absolutely right. thank you for the update. >> christine, let's talk a little bit about the financial impact. jim kind of gave us a list of everything that's wrong. that means money. >> and also this complication with recovery that is a problem getting gas. you've got something like half the gas stations in new york and new jersey are closed right now. that's a problem for people who are trying to both get fuel for their chainsaws, fuel for their small businesses, even car services, for example. you think they would be minting money right now except they can't fill up so they can't mint money waiting for transportation to get going again. people trying to get fuel for the generators. a lot of the local media are reporting in new jersey and parts of new york that people are being diverted from streets to keep people safe from downed power lines to the long line at gas stations to prevent fights from breaking out. it's getting ugly out there. pillows bring your patience. $200 million a day in lost economic activity. if you're a small business you

may or may not have business interruption insurance. if you don't, that means your employees aren't coming in, your customers aren't coming in right now. >> is there a hurricane deductible? >> we'll see about the hurricane deductible. governors have been saying that this hurricane deductible will not happen, right? homeowners, for homeowners who were going to pay tens of thousand thousands of dollars on your home, now you'll probably pay just what your regular deductible is going to be. governors are stepping in saying your deductible is your deductible. the hurricane deductible will not go into play here. i can't imagine that makes the insurance companies happy after there was clearly a hurricane that hit. insurance premiums, by the way, have been housing for several years because of a lot of building and very expensive places where there's a lot of storms. >> the debate was is it a hurricane? is it a flood? is it a collapse of a levee? what is the damage to my home?

that difference between whether it's a hurricane or a flood could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> flood insurance. before irene only 5% of people in the northeast had flood insurance, a federally mandated program. now it's more like 14%. after irene, people got religion but a lot of people don't have flood insurance f you're flooded out, you're flooded out. >> and fema may not be able to pay for the flood insurance. >> there's always a dance between fema, governors, insurance companies and homeowners who are stuck right now. >> that's not a story that's going away. >> other stories that are making news, john berman has that. >> thank you, soledad. in northern new jersey, oil facility has leaked 336,000 gallons of fuel along the tidal waterway that separates staten island from new jersey. new york city police officer is one of the victims of hurricane sandy. 28-year-old went to check on the water in his basement monday night in the southeast section of staten island and never returned. his body was found the next day. a live look at the crane

that has become a major new york city tourist traction 90 stories above midtown. it is no longer dangling this morning after crews secured the boom to the high rise it is attached to. but streets surrounding it are closed and will not reopen until the weekend at the earliest. flights to resume this morning at laguardia airport located along flushing bay. runways there have been flooded. you can see the pictures right there. jfk and newark liberty reopened yesterday morning. again all these airports on limited schedules. let's take a lock at this picture. this is a jeep that's stuck on a fence. not just any fence, however. this is the border that separates mexico from yuma, arizona. two would-be smugglers from mexico tried to get their jeep over the fence using makeshift ramps. that's something over a movie. suspects got away but guards

seized the jeep and the ramps also. both candidates lose in this 4-year-old's vote. this little girl can't wait for the election to be over. >> i'm tired -- i'm tired of bronco bama and mitt romney. >> that's why you're crying? it will be over soon, abby, okay? the election will be over soon, okay? >> okay. >> abby, it will be over in five days. until then, watch our coverage here on cnn. >> but it's back in four years. >> her mom was listening to npr in the car. >> really? >> yes. and she was done. >> npr issued an apology. did you see that article? >> really? >> yes. pull that up. npr issued an apology to the little girl. >> the news is so bad. >> somebody has a sense of humor

at npr. >> what clearly happened was that her mom was listening to the news and not her favorite music. that's why she hates the election. >> a lot of people feel that way, though. >> i am with you, sister, is what i say. ahead on "starting point" is vice president biden already eyeing another run for office? what he said to one voter that has some folks talking about biden 2016. oh...there you go. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! i'm gonna stand up to her! no you're not. i know. you know ronny folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than a witch in a broom factory. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. ♪

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welcome back to "starting point." a quick look at your headlines this morning. several people waking up on shelter cots this morning after being displaced from sandy. 9,000 people now in 13 states

spent tuesday night in red cross shelters. good news, donations for the red cross are starting to pour in. well over $11 million so far. if you want to help, please go to cnn.com/impact to see what you can do. i encourage you all to do it. cnn ireporter george dupont shot these stunning images in connecticut. piled on top of each other in a boat yard. really on top of nearby homes. he has lived in the area for 30 years and says he has never seen anything like this. george had to travel a couple of towns over to send us these pictures because he had lost power. could vice president biden be thinking about a presidential run in 2016? the vice president was in florida, campaigning for president obama when he got on a cell phone to talk to a romney supporter and talked about the possibility. listen. >> i just wanted to say hi and after it's all over, when your insurance rates come down, then you'll vote for me in 2016.

>> you'll vote for me in 2016. joe biden, ladies and gentlemen. >> apparently he has announced. >> there you go. >> is he running in 2016. >> he has been saying that for years. nobody take it is seriously. >> no joke. still ahead on "starting point," faith, family and the presidential election. both campaigns are trying to in the time battlegrounds. with a deadline. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. this is awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is, business pro. yes, it is. go national. go like a pro. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 you know, the one that's been lying around. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 rollover your old 401(k) to a schwab ira, and we'll help you

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welcome back. you're watching "starting point." marist poll gives president obama a six-point edge over governor romney in iowa, 50% to

44%. critical voting bloc for both campaigns. in a state that could decide who wins the white house. cnn's poppy harlow is live for us. >> reporter: about a third of the population in this battleground state, a million people either call themselves catholic or eveng el angelical. this is key especially when you're talking about a state like iowa, which folks here describe to me as split right down the middle or a purple state. in the heart of des moines, evangelical christians flock to grace church to talk faith, family and the presidential election. >> honestly, what it all boils down to is what does the bible say and which candidate is going to follow the closest? >> for bob and rachel bradshah, that candidate is mitt romney.

>> i don't know how voters loik mine the president could be for abortion the way he is, and support same-sex marriage. it's hard for me to -- somebody that claims to be a christian, you know, make statements to support things like that. >> it can't be an easy choice to make either way. >> reporter: wrestling with their votes. >> my religious beliefs, if anything it's probably going to end up being mitt romney. >> 57% of voters in the republican iowa caucuses identify themselves as evangelicals, supported rick santorum over mitt romney, many uneasy on his views like abortion and his moremmon faith >> you originally said that the romney campaign snubbed social

conservatives. >> he has tried to make that outreach to social conservatives as well as economic conservatives, done a good job here in iowa. >> reporter: iowa's evangelical voters seem to be moving into mitt romney's camp here in traditionally democratic dubuque, catholic voters we spoke with here are split over issues like abortion, contraception and the government's role in providing for the poor. >> the life issues, which many catholics, most catholics hold dear and central to their faith, but then there's this bloef that remains that within the democratic party somehow cares for the poor better. i just think it comes down to that tepgs. >> reporter: how big a role does your catholic religion play in your vote? >> i think it's big. i'm an ex-nun. and i -- the group of nuns that i'm associated with to this day

are pushing for obama. >> is the pro choice stance difficult for you to reconcile? >> it was difficult. it bothered me for a long, long time. >> as did the same-sex marriage iss issue, both of which she ultimately looked past. but for catholics like ellen marcum and her daughter, dawn, some are nonnegotiable. >> i'm very pro life. and i want an administration that supports that view. sanctity of life and sanctity of marriage. >> reporter: and this year it's gotten even more interesting. u.s. conference of catholic bishops has been extremely vocal in its opposition to the obama administration rule, requiring to provide free contraception, complicates the president's

relationship with voters. >> thank you for the update, poppy. we appreciate it. we've been asking folks to send in pictures of yourself, if you voted early and why. this comes from richard moore in orlando, florida. he said he he voted early for president obama. he said the biggest issue for him in the election was the economy. from ft. worth, texas, a picture of her granddaughter, aria, to show how important it is to vote. she voted early for mitt romney. she says the most important issue is the economy. cnn.com/startingpoint. of course, you want to tune in on tuesday night. cnn's live coverage of election night in america. we start at 6:00 pm eastern. "end point" is up next. ♪ can't tell them apart, try as you might ♪ ♪ but a wise man once said that the secret to life ♪

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welcome back, everybody. this just in to cnn. there are reports that former penn state president graham spanier will be charged in connection with the jerry sandusky case. tim curley, and gary schultz also could face more charges. there will be a news conference with the attorney general and pennsylvania state police commissioner. i guess that news conference is happening at noon today. just a couple of minutes left for our end point this morning. that's kind of a shocker. although, many people talked about that happening. that's really interesting, i think. >> they did. graham spanier is a major public figure in public education, facing public charges. >> who wants to tackle end point? >> november 1st. we should have a couple of predictions here, right? ben is here. ben knows more about this than anybody. i would like to hear margaret's prediction. i have a little bit of a prediction. people will not be surprised.

i think president obama is going to win. i would say close to 300 electoral votes. >> wow! >> look, it's turnout versus the polling. if you take the accumulation of each of the battleground polls, every single one of them, the average of colorado, the average of iowa, the average of ohio, they're all within the margin of error. this is a turnout game. all these other things, what gets most people to the polls, provision aal ballots will be b in ohio. >> if it comes down to preparation, obama will win, they've been out here since 2007 building these local organizations. if it comes down to enthusiasm, that could be something different. it feels loik an election where the incumbent stumbles in early october, it's very hard to recover. but the polling -- it will turn out that there was something really wrong with all the polling if obama loses at this

point. >> what was the october surprise? >> i think sandy happening this week has changed how we look at the election for sure. i think that coming up -- coming into monday or tuesday, the romney message was momentum, momentum, momentum. then they stopped having a message because sandy took over. we're starting up again with barack obama out there in new jersey with chris christie and the message that he has bipartis bipartisanship. >> five days. is it time for a whole new messaging, no new moment snum. >> there's a little bit time for it. we'll have the jobs report that could have some momentum for romney going into the weekend. >> a look at what's coming up tomorrow on "starting point" following the latest, of course, on sandy's aftermath. big jobs report for october will come out, monthly report for election day. that will be a big one. we'll bring in grover norquist, sheila bair, ken rogoff, erin burnett will sit down with us